Eight Rings gives race Grade I look

HOT SPRINGS — The $100,000, 6-furlong Bachelor Stakes at Oaklawn today features one entrant that sports something his competitors can’t boast.

The ninth of 11 races on Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort’s card today has a post time of 4:45 p.m. The race is for 3-year-olds.

Four of the nine Bachelor entrants have graded stakes experience, led by Grade I winner and 5-2 morning-line favorite Eight Rings from Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s Southern California barn.

Eight Rings and several others have drawn the concern of Tom Amoss, trainer

of Long Weekend, an easy winner of Oaklawn’s 6-furlong Gazebo Stakes on March 21.

“The Gazebo was a very visually impressive race,” Amoss said. “What I’m concerned about is the depth and quality of this field, particularly as it pertains to Bob Baffert’s horse who’s coming in from California and is a Grade I winner. I mean, you don’t usually see that in a small stake, but these are unusual times.”

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, nationwide track closures have limited opportunities for thoroughbred racing to five tracks.

Eight Rings, by Empire Maker, won the Grade I, 7-furlong American Pharoah Stakes at Del Mar in San Diego on Sept. 27, but he finished sixth of 12 in his last race, the Grade I, 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 1.

Joe Talamo rode Long Weekend in his Gazebo win.

“He really impressed me that day,” Talamo said. “He had a lot of speed but was ratable at the same time, which is always nice.”

Two entrants will race from Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn, including Little Menace, who finished second, 43 /4 lengths behind Long Weekend in the Gazebo.

Little Menace, by Into Mischief, is one of four in the field who have demonstrated at least periodic front-running tendencies, as have Eight Rings and Long Weekend, the 3-1 morning-line second choice.

Talamo said he thought early speed from others might make Long Weekend’s start from the gate’s ninth stall advantageous.

“When you have speed in the race like this, I really don’t mind drawing the outside,” Talamo said. “If you’re quick enough to come over, it really doesn’t matter.”

“It allows you to kind of ad-lib your game strategy,” Amoss said.

A brisk early pace might help Sir Rick, a son of Paynter from the barn of Oaklawn’s leading trainer Robertino Diodoro. Sir Rick hasn’t raced under 1 mile since Oct. 17.

“We’re going to gamble and hope there’s a lot of speed in the race and it backs up,” Diodoro said. “We’ve got nothing to lose. The horse bounced back out of his last race good, and maybe when it’s all said in done, maybe he is a better sprinter than he is a route horse.”

Sir Rick won the 1 1/16mile Mine That Bird Derby at Sunland Park in New Mexico on Feb. 23, but he stopped and finished last of 13 in the 1 1/16-mile Oaklawn Stakes on April 11.

Talamo said he is curious what Eight Rings, who has not raced in nearly six months, will bring to Oaklawn.

“One of the great things about Oaklawn is that you see some great horses come here,” Talamo said. “Not just as a jockey but also as a fan and a student of the game. That’s always great to see at a track where you’re riding.”